State's top spellers honored in Springfield

Friday

SPRINGFIELD -- The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library became the stage for a mock spelling bee Thursday, when Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn honored Illinois’ regional champions who participated in the Scripps National Spelling Bee May 30-31.

By LAURA CAMPER

STATE CAPITOL BUREAU

SPRINGFIELD -- The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library became the stage for a mock spelling bee Thursday, when Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn honored Illinois’ regional champions who participated in the Scripps National Spelling Bee May 30-31.

Asking the young students to spell words such as whistleblower, gridlock and mudslinging — words he said were relevant to Illinois politics — Quinn presented them with a certificate and his congratulations for their hard work. He said the students deserved recognition for their efforts in the national bee in Washington, D.C., “the toughest spelling competition on planet earth.”

“Doing (the ceremony) here at the Lincoln Library, I think, is important because Lincoln, of all the American presidents, probably was the best writer and had a great facility with words,” Quinn said.

Nine students and their families gathered in the Lincoln Reception Room for the ceremony, including Drew Kluemke from Sherman, Kyle Mou from Peoria and Christian Wilks from Freeport.

Kluemke, 13, attended the spelling bee but was eliminated in the preliminary stage by a multiple-choice test. He said he entered the Regional Spelling Bee sponsored by The State Journal-Register hoping to visit Washington. The family did see some of the sights while they were there.

“We saw all the monuments,” he said. “And we went to some of the Smithsonian museums.”

Mark Kluemke, who accompanied his son to Washington, said the trip was a great experience.

“It gave us a chance to see him perform ... at a difficult level that a lot of adults couldn’t do,” Kluemke’s father said. “We’re very, very proud of him.”

But above all, Drew Kluemke said, the experience was fun because “spelling’s fun for me.”

After receiving his certificate, Mou approached the podium to spell his word for Quinn. Barely reaching the microphone, he faltered on “initiative” but correctly spelled “governor.”

Eleven-year-old Mou attended the national spelling bee for the first time this year, he said. He was knocked out in the fourth round, number 60 of 286 spellers. His father, Libin, said the entire family went to watch him in the bee.

“I think it’s a good experience for him,” Libin said.

Wilks, 10, said he entered the spelling bee because he likes to spell and he’s good at it. He went as far as the district spelling bee last year, but this year he made it all the way to round two in Washington.

“It was pretty exciting,” he said, adding that he plans to try again next year.

“I just wanted to give it a try to see if I could memorize the words,” the 13-year-old Bateman said, adding that she studied all week for the bee, which was held at University of Illinois at Springfield.

“She drove me crazy,” Bateman’s mother, Sarah Johnson, said with a laugh, explaining that her daughter would start studying when she woke up and wouldn’t stop until she went to bed.

Mary Beth Lauderdale, superintendent of Illinois School for the Deaf, which Bateman attends, said the students have participated in the Finger Spelling Bee, which is conducted in American Sign Language, since it started 10 years ago.

The process of learning to spell is different for deaf students, Lauderdale said.

“When you learn to read and write English, you learn usually phonetically, and they don’t have that capability,” she said. “It’s more memorization and visual learning.”

Other Illinois participants in the national spelling bee were: William Erwin of Decatur, Kiara Jones of Chicago, Ryan Jordan of Flat Rock, Melinda Matthews of Clinton, Christopher Shelor of Quincy, Alex Benjamin of Bourbonnais, Zina Ellis of Moline, Katie Medema or Prophetstown, Rose Sloan of Chicago, Katelyn Renee Voss of Leaf River and Emily Wick of Rockford. Not all attended the ceremony.

Laura Camper can be reached at (217) 782-6882 or laura.camper@sj-r.com.

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